Designate This, New and Improved
by Sim Spider
Summary: My take on what should have happened in the season two premiere. ML, naturally. WIP.
1. Default Chapter

**Designate This, New and Improved.**

Disclaimer: I own none of it.

A/n: This is an alternate ending to 'Designate This'. I just had to get it out of my system. Yes, I know, it's been done before…

The whole episode up to when Max comes back to Logan happens just like it did in the show.

Logan felt a presence behind him, and for a moment, he didn't allow himself to believe it was real. He turned around, dreading that just like every other time he had felt her near the room behind him would be empty.

Suddenly he couldn't breathe. "Max…" he managed to gasp after an eternity, gazing into her dark eyes.

"We gotta get you out of here. They're coming to get you." He stepped forward and cupped her face in his hands. The smallest trace of a smile twitched his lips as he leaned forward to kiss her. Max's hands rested on his cheeks as she returned his kiss, losing control at the sensation of finally having his lips on hers again. When her brain had returned to her body – and his mouth had retreated from her own – she remembered Renfro.

"We gotta go. They're coming to get you."

"Who? What's going on? How did you…"

"I'll explain later. Come on."

"No, I have to finish my broadcast."

"Forget it. It's not important."

"Well, well, 452, what a touching reunion." The couple turned to see Renfro, flanked by Alec and Brin, standing in the doorway. Instinctively, their hold on each other tightened. "And I assume I am addressing the famous Eyes Only?" Max and Logan could only stare at her in disbelief.

"How did you find me?" Max said at last.

"Short memory, 452? The same way we did last time. That Red Series implant in your neck has proved invaluable. Not only has it led us to you, but to your boyfriend here too."

Max turned and looked into Logan's eyes. "I'm so sorry… I can't believe I led them straight to you… how could I have been so stupid?"

"Shhh, hush." Logan pulled her into his arms and held her close. "It's not your fault. I would have done exactly the same."

"Oh, please. I think I'm going to hurl," muttered Alec.

"Now, 494, don't be a hypocrite. I've read the reports on the Berrisford mission," said Renfro. "We were going to infect you with a retrovirus targeted to his DNA, but this was quicker."

Unnoticed by any of them, a rope snaked down from the skylight and landed on the wooden floor with a soft thud.

"Let her go and I'll give you the codes to the informant net," said Logan.

"Don't you dare!" Said Max. "You know how many lives there are at stake."

"Don't worry, 452, I wouldn't have accepted anyway. He's just proved that he will do anything to keep you safe, so he will give me those codes. What's your name, Eyes Only?"

Logan just stared at the director of Manticore, hatred and contempt in every feature. Slightly disconcerted at his intensity, Renfro drew a gun and shot him in the leg, about half way up his thigh.

He crashed over backwards, pulling Max with him. Desperately, she cradled his head in her arms. "Logan! I'm so sorry, Logan, so sorry…"

"Logan? Never figured Eyes Only for a Logan," mused Renfro.

"You should have," he said, climbing back to his feet. "It's derived from the Greek 'to record'. Means 'noteworthy'."

Renfro, Alec and Brin just stared at him, astonished that he wasn't screaming at the pain of having a bullet hole in his leg.

"What… How…" stuttered Renfro.

"Well, that's a turn up for the books," said Logan to Max as he offered her a hand up. "Bruno Anselmo, one of the stupidest men who ever lived, just made a gibbering idiot out of the mighty Director of Manticore."

Max couldn't help but smile. "Guess the guy did us some good, in his own twisted way. But then again, he's the reason I have this implant in my head in the first place."

They were interrupted by a beep from the computer. A message reading '_Satellite link re-established. Press enter to transmit.' _Flashed up on the screen.

Max and Logan's eyes met, and a silent conversation took place in less than five seconds. The only words they said aloud were the final ones.

"I love you, Max."

"I love you, Logan." Their lips brushed together tenderly for a moment. Then all hell broke loose. Max blurred towards Renfro, while Logan dived towards his computer to transmit his bulletin. Alec followed Logan to keep him from the keyboard and Brin raced forwards to meet Max's attack on her commander.

The two sisters exchanged blows faster than the eye could follow. The extra training Max had received after she was recaptured meant she was a match for Brin now, and she was fighting for what meant most to her.

Logan just managed to hit the enter button before Alec caught up with him, spinning the older man around and delivering a roundhouse punch to his face that fractured his cheekbone. Then as Logan staggered, Alec grabbed him in a headlock, drew a gun and pressed it to his temple.

"All right, 452, give it up or you're scraping your boyfriend's brains off the walls." Max froze.

"Let him go, 494," came Renfro's strangled voice. Krit was holding her in exactly the same way Alec held Logan. Syl stood behind them, holding a huge pistol in her delicate, feminine hands.

Alec obeyed, and Logan stepped away from him, rubbing his face. "Hey, Syl, Krit, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"Our baby sister made us promise that if anything happened to her we'd keep an eye on you. We've been staking out your apartment for the last three months," said Krit.

"When we saw her show up, we thought we should make sure she hadn't been turned and was trying to kill you. Good thing, too," Syl finished.

"What are you going to do now?" Asked Renfro, with a sneer, once she and her two X5's were tied up. "The committee will be locking down the cells at Manticore as we speak, ready to burn it to the ground. And the tech team we have can track you everywhere you go."

"I can triangulate the signal from the implant and locate the trackers. I'll get a team together, have them take it out while you free the transgenics." Logan suggested, glancing up from watching Max cleaning up the gunshot wound in his leg.

"Great. What about these three?" Said Krit.

"Take them to the warehouse where we met for the first mission," ordered Max. "Keep them tied up and Alec and Brin sedated. I have a lot of questions for the good Director. You got a contact number for Lydecker, Logan?"

"Yeah, I'm sure he'd like to discuss old times with his dear ex- boss here. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going back to open the cages."

What do you think? Tell me if you'd like this story continued, I'm not really sure if it works yet. I don't know where it might go next either, so suggestions would be more than welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

A/n: Sorry it's taken me so long to update this one. I've had terrible trouble trying to think where this storyline might go. I'm amazed by the amount of positive feedback it's got, so I'll try and continue it when I have time. Shit, I've just realised I've got four stories going at once! How'd that happen?

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Chapter 2

Max stood on the ridge overlooking Manticore. She smiled as she watched another wing burst into flames, knowing that most of its former inhabitants were running for their lives in the forest behind her.

"I hope you got out, Joshua," she whispered. Good luck, big fella.

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"Lydecker." the colonel barked into his cell phone, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove.

"It's me." he recognised Logan's voice instantly and responded with surprise.

"Hello son, didn't think I'd be hearing from you again so soon."

"Neither did I. Max came home tonight."

"She survived? Is she all right? Is she Max?"

"Yes, on all counts. And she wasn't alone."

"Zack?"

"No. Renfro, Brin and another X5. They're here at the warehouse where we met for the first mission. Want to visit?"

"You actually captured Renfro? I'll be there in thirty minutes."

"I thought you might say that. And no tricks this time, ok?"

"Tricks? I don't play tricks."

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Back at the warehouse, Syl finally broached the subject Max had been dreading most. "Did Zack get out too? Is he ok?"

"He's dead," whispered Max, the pain and grief in her eyes all too easy to read. Silently, the three siblings embraced in a group hug, drawing strength from one another.

"Our brother was a great soldier. Shame he could be such a pain in the ass too," said Krit softly. They stood silently together for a moment, each with their own memories, before Max spoke again.

"I … I just wanted to say… Thanks, you guys, for sticking around all this time. I know how risky it was for you…"

"No problem, baby sister," said Syl. "Logan was the only part of you we had left; we weren't gonna let anything happen to him."

"He was a real mess when we first got back, you know," added Krit. "He came home, and sat on his couch for a week until he keeled over. The only way he could find to deal was to take on Manticore. So he did."

"You picked a good one, Max. Don't let him get away." Max smiled at her sister.

"I won't. If Manticore's taught me one thing, it's that there's no such thing as happily ever after. You just have to try and make happily ever now last as long as you can."

"Does that mean we should expect wedding invites?" Syl grinned.

Max flushed. "Now let's not get ahead of ourselves…"

Lydecker chose that moment to roar in in his Hummer.

"Déjà vu," said Krit, lowering his gun as Lydecker climbed out of the car.

"It's good to see you back, Max. Where are the prisoners?"

"Brin and Alec are locked in the van. The good director is right over there, where we can keep an eye on her."

"How the mighty have fallen, Renfro."

"You can't win, Deck. I won't tell you anything. There's no way you'll let me go now I know who Eyes Only is."

"True. We are going to kill you. But it's up to you how painful it's going to be. Give us some answers, and I'll at least make it quick."

"Hey, if anyone's going to be doing any torturing, it'll be me," announced Max. "I want payback for what she did to Tinga. And no one shoots my man and gets away with it."

Lydecker looked uncomfortable at this. "She shot Logan? Was he badly hurt?"

"No, just a flesh wound. She shot him in the leg, so it's not bothering him."

"Why not? Why didn't it hurt him?" Renfro called out from the corner.

"None of your business, bitch. If we didn't need the contents of your peroxided brain I'd have killed you by now. Do not piss me off any more."

"Where is Logan, anyway?"

"Getting together a team to take out the people still tracking the implant in my neck. That was how they found us when I escaped. And here he is now. Logan's car pulled up alongside Lydecker's hummer and he climbed out."

"Hey, everyone." Max hurried over to him and wrapped an arm around his waist. He smiled at her at the gesture. Krit cleared his throat and Logan tore his eyes away from Max's. "I've got a team of explosives experts blowing up those trackers right now. They'll call when it's done. How are things going with Renfro?"

"They're not. She's still not giving us anything." Krit replied.

"I'll talk to Eyes Only. Alone."

"No way. Max pulled Logan possessively closer to her. "You stay away from him or I'll kill you right now."

"It's ok, Max." Logan said in a tone of voice that meant he would brook no argument. "The three of you take Lydecker to see Alec and Brin. Maybe she'll tell me something useful." Reluctantly, the colonel and the three X5s left the prisoner alone with him. He sat on a crate opposite her as she asked him a question.

"So why aren't you in pain, Eyes Only?"

"Very long and complicated story, Renfro. One I'm not going to bother you with."

"Then here's another question. Why help the X5's? For 452, or do you have an ulterior motive?"

"Her name is Max. And Eyes Only doesn't need any ulterior motive to help people, Director."

"Oh, yes, the Batman act. But my query still stands. Why are you on their side? You know they're all murderers."

"Yes. I know. But I also know what people like you did to them to make them that way."

"Oh, no. We didn't have to. It was imprinted into their DNA from day one. They're all predators. 493… Ben, was a great success in that respect."

"Oh, Renfro. Is that all you come up with? The old nature versus nurture argument? If that's all you have to say…"

"It's not. I want to offer you a deal."

"A deal? What could you possibly have that I would want?"

"The ability to call off the hounds from your precious Max." Renfro spat the name venomously.

"No. Even if I believed you, which I don't, you know who I am and what I look like. You'd soon catch us up."

"But I could give you my word… please, Logan, they'll kill me in cold blood…"

"In cold blood? You murdered their sister, a young mother, in a DNA extraction chamber. You tried your best to get your hands on a four-year-old boy so you could experiment on him too. You are a monster, and you plead with me for mercy? You'd betray us faster than I can hack the Seattle PD mainframe." Logan turned to go.

"I know where 599 is," blurted Renfro. Logan stopped, glancing back at her.

Max burst in, incandescent with rage. "Liar! Zack is dead! You played the footage to me over and over again! You made me listen to his last words, listen to his heart beating in my chest! You showed me his body, listed the organs you'd harvested! He's dead!"

"We brought you back, 452, why not him? We were able to keep him on life support for long enough to build him new artificial organs, and our neural implant technology is far more advanced than that toothpick in your brain."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's she talking about?" Asked Logan. Max's anger was frightening him; he could tell she was about ten seconds from snapping Renfro's neck. He laid a gentle hand on her tense shoulder. "Max?" She spun around as if she were going to attack him too. Max blinked, recognised Logan, and seemed to sag from her aggressive posture before stepping forward and burying her face in his chest. He could do no more than wrap his arms around her, gentle sobs shaking her body as he held her close.

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Tell me what you thought. And I still need storyline ideas. I don't think I'm going to bother with the whole familiar thing, but what should I do instead? Any thoughts?


	3. Chapter 3

A/n: OMG I updated! Sorry it's been so long but I've been kind of taken over by B&M.

Anyway, hope you like this.

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Chapter 3

"Max? Can you tell us what happened to Zack?" Syl's voice was soft, gentle, as if she were talking to a frightened child. Max pulled away from Logan's protective arms and faced the three of them.

"He's dead. And it's all my fault, just like she said. Now leave me alone." She turned and stalked away towards the exit.

"Did she give you anything?" Asked Lydecker, sticking his head around the door where he was watching Renfro.

"She's still saying he's dead," replied Krit, softly.

"No more information?"

"None, but we can change that," said Logan, taking charge. "Ok, Lydecker, work your famous interrogation skills on the director. Krit, keep watch on Alec and Brin, and Syl, check the perimeter. We don't know how close they are or if the tracker's been disabled yet. I'm going to talk to Max." Just then, Logan's cell phone rang and he turned away to pick up. "Yeah?"

"Since when was he in charge?" Murmured Krit to Syl.

"Since Max was out of commission. Besides, better him than Deck."

"Fair point." Logan hung up his phone and turned around.

"Good news, the tracker van's been blown, but we still need to be careful in case they got a fix on us before we got them. We should move out ASAP. I have a safe house set up in sector five, 1724 Smithson. Here." he threw a set of keys at Krit, who caught them effortlessly. "Take the prisoners there and wait for me and Max. We shouldn't be too long." He headed towards the door Max had left through.

"Uh, Logan?" Said Syl. He turned back towards her, raising an eyebrow.

"Thanks for helping out."

He smiled quickly. "No problem."

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Logan finished climbing the now familiar steps and sat down beside Max on the edge of the space needle.

"Thought you didn't like heights," she said.

"I didn't. But since you've been gone, I've been coming up here a lot. Guess I got used to it."

"Go away, Logan. I'll only get you hurt again. I hurt everyone I love, just like Renfro said. Poison…" The hopelessness in her voice cut Logan to the quick.

"Max, look at me." Logan grabbed her face in his hands and forced her to meet his eyes. "You are not poison. They only told you that to try and break you. But you're stronger than they are. You got away again, you came home to me. And if you think I'm going to let you give up now…"

"But it's true, Logan! It was my fault you got shot. It was my fault Zack died. It was my fault they got Brin. It's my fault Case doesn't have a mother any more. I did that, all of it."

"Max, listen to me. I would be dead now if it wasn't for you, a hundred times over. Manticore would still be chasing you and all of your siblings. Case would be in a cage being experimented on. You did everything you could to help them, all of them."

"But it wasn't enough. Nothing I do is ever good enough."

"You're not superwoman, Max, no matter what Lydecker tries to tell you. Everyone fails. I failed you when I left you in the woods for them to find. I failed to protect Sophy, and Peter, and Nathan."

"That wasn't your fault! None of it was."

"And none of the things you're blaming yourself for were yours. We're human, Max. We make mistakes. Sometimes the best case scenario is enough to make us feel guilt. But can you imagine what would have happened if you hadn't tried to help? I'd be dead, Zack would be dead, so would Tinga, and Charlie, maybe Case too. Jace and her child would be in Manticore. You have to do the best you can in the circumstances. Sometimes that's good enough, sometimes it's not. You just have to learn to deal with it."

Max was silent for a while, considering what he'd said. Then she told him exactly what had happened to Zack.

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Original Cindy was rudely awoken by a loud knock at her door in the middle of the night. She pulled on a robe and answered it, grumbling blearily.

"All right, all right, I'm comin…" She froze in shock. Max and Logan stood outside.

"Max? Is that you? What…" Max just pulled her into a long hug. "Thank god you're alive, boo. I missed you so much…"

"Me, too," whispered Max. When they eventually separated, Logan spoke.

"Look, I hate to interrupt, but I have to go. Are you going to be all right?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. You go deal with Lydecker and Renfro."

"Ok. I'm on my cell if you need anything, and I'll be back in a few hours." He leaned forward and kissed her quickly before turning to go.

"Logan?" said Max as he did so. He turned back towards her from the threshold. "Don't be too long." He just smiled at her.

"I won't."

After he'd gone, Cindy looked at the smile on Max's face and sighed. "Are you going to make me say it?"

Her brow wrinkled in confusion. "Say what?"

"I told you so!"

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Syl, Krit and Lydecker had transferred Alec, Brin and Renfro to Logan's safe house. The two X5's and their leader had been sedated to prevent them attacking their captors, and slumbered quietly against one wall.

"I'll say this for Logan, he has a good setup around here," said Krit.

"He needs one, the amount of trouble he's been causing for Manticore in the last few months," said Lydecker, overhearing.

"I'm not sure if that's bravery or stupidity," Syl remarked. "We've been watching his broadcasts and they're pretty close to the line."

"Revenge is a powerful motive." The colonel said, in the voice of one who knows.

"I still don't understand why that leg wound didn't slow him down," said Krit.

"Let's just say he's had more than his fair share of injuries," Lydecker hinted. Syl and Krit exchanged confused glances.

"What does that mean?" asked Syl.

"Don't say you haven't noticed the noise of that machine he uses? I thought I'd trained you to be more observant than that."

"Machine?" Krit's eyes widened. "You mean that little humming sound? Is that significant?"

"Not really," said Logan, walking in. "Now, do you want to hear about Zack or not?"

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Tell me if you liked.


	4. Chapter 4

A/n: I'm so sorry, everyone! I know it's been months since I updated this.

This chapter is more a declaration of intent than anything. I promise, cross my heart and hope to die, that I will finish this story at some point. But you're gonna have to give me a bit of time to do it; it is soooo difficult to write.

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Chapter 4

Logan finished the story, leaving Syl and Krit in shock. Lydecker only looked thoughtful.

"Hmm. I suppose it would be possible for Zack to have survived. Provided he really was moved out to another facility."

"Do you have any idea which one it could have been?" Asked Logan.

"There are a number of possibilities… I wasn't that involved with the biomechanical side of the operation so I couldn't say for sure."

"I have a friend who might be able to help; he's very into that kind of thing."

"Is there anywhere you don't have a friend?" Asked Krit.

"Unfortunately, yes. Manticore, for one."

"What did you do with Max?"

"I dropped her off at her place. She doesn't need to deal with this on top of everything else."

"You think Zack's life is just something to be dealt with?"

"Isn't everything?" Said Logan bitterly. "The four of us can save Zack. We don't need Max's help and right now I don't think she's in any state to give it anyway."

"He's right," Lydecker said. "You saw how Max blew up at Renfro; if she did that on a mission she could get us all killed."

"Ok. But I want one thing very clear," said Syl. "Logan is in charge. Krit and I are infantry and you," she pointed at Lydecker, "are torturer and adviser. Not commander, not anything. Got that?"

"Understood," said Lydecker. Arguing with a stressed out X5 would get him nowhere and he knew it.

"If the chain of command's been established, can we get on with rescuing Zack?" Said Logan, irritated.

"Sir, yes, sir," said Krit, saluting.

Logan ignored the gesture. "Well, we can't do much until Renfro wakes up. I'll start with my information gathering, see if there's any word on the net. Lydecker, make a list of all the locations where Zack could be. One of you two at least will need to stay and guard the prisoners; you can work it out between you." He turned away, pulling his laptop out of its case and plugging it into the nearest socket.

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Syl approached Logan after a few minutes with a cup of coffee.

"Hey. Thought you could use this." Logan glanced up, distracted.

"Oh. Thanks, Syl."

"From what I noticed, I didn't think you liked Zack."

"You spotted that?"

"Guess he didn't like Max sticking around you."

"Pretty much."

"So… I gotta ask. Why are you so bothered about trying to save him?"

"You do know what I do every day?"

"Well, yeah, but everyone knows Zack's always had a thing for Max…"

"Can't blame him for that. I may not like his methods, or his attitude, but all he's ever tried to do is keep her safe."

"Even from you?"

"He has every right. I've almost got her killed more than once."

"So what, you're going to save the guy who's trying to steal your girl for some kind of greater good?"

"Not like I haven't done similar things before," said Logan, distantly. "I do what I have to, for Max and the rest of the world."

"Why? Why do you have to?"

"Because no one else will."

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Max was reacquainting herself with all the things she'd been missing out on while trapped inside Manticore. She'd taken a long, hot bath, shaved her legs, and then succumbed to Cindy's ministrations. Her best friend had mixed up and applied a face pack to them both and was in the process of updating Max on all that had happened since she'd 'died' while she worked on her nails.

"I'm telling you, boo, Normal's been a different type of alien since you been away. He offered me a whole week off on full pay and asked about your funeral arrangements."

"You're kidding. Normal hated me; I was always being late, or playing hooky to help Logan out."

"Yeah; guess the man does have a heart under all that bipping. Who'da thunk?"

"Not me," chuckled Max.

"So, you gonna tell me what went down on your end of this bitch? It's ok if you don't…"

"No, I'll tell you. I got shot; medically speaking, I died, in Logan's arms."

"Damn. That has got to smart."

"Just a little. Anyway, Manticore found me in the woods and brought me back with a heart transplant. Then they started trying to brainwash me into being one of their children of the damned again. I managed to escape, but what they forgot to mention was that they were tracking me with the implant in my neck. I went straight to Logan's and they followed, the Director and two X5s. If Syl and Krit hadn't shown up to check on Logan they'dve dragged us right back there."

"Why would your black helicopter dudes be interested in Logan?"

"To get to me, mostly."

"One thing I noticed while you were away," said Cindy, her eyes narrowing a little. "The Eyes on the screen have been damn quiet. Not a single broadcast til a couple of days ago; and it was all on Manticore. There something you wanna tell me, boo?"

"Like what?" Asked Max.

"Like what Logan's been up to for the past three months on that fancy computer of his? And why you and him had to run all those little errands all the time? And why it was tonight, of all nights, that Eyes Only finally found Manticore and took it down?"

Max suddenly became very interested in the deep purple nail polish Cindy was applying to her short fingernails.

"Logan's Eyes Only, isn't he?"

"Oh, come on; Logan?" Asked Max, too heartily.

"Yeah. Actually, it makes a whole lotta sense. Who else but the most powerful man in the city could swing those pills of yours every month? Who else could have got the po-pos off your backs for protection money?"

"Ok, ok, maybe he is," confessed Max shyly. "But you can't tell anyone…"

"Hey, give Original Cindy some credit here, boo! I'm not gonna spill your man's big secret; done aiight keepin yours."

"I know, I know," said Max. "But… it's Logan…"

"And you could never let anythin happen to him," said Cindy gently.

"I'd die first," whispered Max vehemently.

"Technically, you already did," OC reminded her. "And it almost destroyed him too. Man was a mess; hardly left his apartment with you gone. Even Bling gave up on him after the fourth time Logan fired him."

"Logan fired Bling?"

"Mmm hmm. He's hung around, though. Tried to make me knock some sense into your boy before he got himself killed. I did my best, boo, but I can't kick ass as hard as you."

Max rolled her eyes. "Not even I could ever pry Logan away from one of his obsessions."

"It's in their genes; the three legged gender can't admit when they're wrong. But this time… looks like he was actually right. When I went over to chew him out, he admitted that he didn't believe you were dead. Said he could feel it, somehow. Almost had me belivin him for a while."

"But he watched me die; he saw it happen. How could he still think I was alive?"

"It's the 'L' word again, boo," said Cindy. "When I lost Diamond, I knew it. Like somethin inside of me died with her. Guess Logan just didn't feel that; he knew there was somethin goin on."

"I thought about him every minute of every day," said Max. "I always regretted I never got to tell him how much he means to me. Sometimes that was the only thing that got me through; I just told myself I had to keep fighting if I wanted to see Logan again; if I wanted to tell him how much I love him."

"I'm proud of you, boo. You finally admitted it to yourself. Now you just got to figure out how to tell him."

"I kinda already did," Max confessed, coyly.

"You go, girl!" Cindy held out her fist to be bumped; carefully, minding the still tacky nail polish. "You keep makin leaps like this, you won't even need a boo to help with your issues."

"Nah. I'll always need my boo," smiled Max. "For life, right?"

"No doubt, Max. No doubt." The two women hugged, each needing the other's presence.

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"Lydecker!" Logan called out. "You got that list for me yet?"

"Here, son," the colonel affirmed, handing it over.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that," said Logan absently, scanning the list.

"You did," Lydecker replied. "Do you think you can find Zack without Renfro?"

"Yes," said Logan, confidently. "But it'll take time, and I really don't think that's something we have in spadefulls. By the time I track him down he could easily have been moved, or escaped, and we'll be back at square one."

"Even if we do find Zack, there's no telling what the neuro psych specialists will have done to him. The mind is infinitely pliable; they may have convinced him his old life on the outside never existed, or worse."

"We have to take that chance," said Logan. "I, for one, am not leaving him in the hands of the sadists you people employ in the name of science."

"And if he's been turned against you? Against Max?"

"Well, that's where you come in, isn't it? I'm sure you know all their little tricks, or have contacts who do." Logan's cell rang and he picked up. "Hey."

"Asha, slow down; take a breath before you pass out. Ok. Now tell me, slowly. They did what? You're kidding. No, it's ok. No, Asha, listen, it'll be fine. I'll talk to Eyes Only and ask him to set the record straight for you first thing in the morning. Just get the others together and find a place to lay low overnight. Yes. Ok. I'll have to call you back tomorrow; I'm kind of in the middle of something. Yes. Ok. See you."

"Trouble?" Asked Lydecker.

"The powers that be are not only trying to claim the ruins of Manticore as a VA hospital, they're also putting the blame on burning it down on some friends of mine. It's nothing I can't handle."

"You think so? After this, the Committee will stop at nothing to track you down. If I were you, son, I'd find Zack, then take Max away on a permanent vacation."

Logan turned to look steadily up at the older man. "There's just one flaw in that scenario," he said. "I'm not you."

The two of them just stared at each other, blue eyes locked together.

"Logan?" Krit approached, making them both turn towards him. "Renfro's awake."

"I'll see what I can get out of her," said Lydecker.

"Good," replied Logan, his eyes dropping back to his computer screen. "Let me know when you've got something," he added, as the colonel walked away.

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Apologies for the lack of plot, guys. What did you think, a


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